Unknown Hero
by Alethea27
Summary: What if Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville along with help from an unexpected source had been able to save Professor Snape after he had his throat cut by Voldemort and he had been bitten by Nagini? AU and NOT canon-compliant. Image is credited to Warner Brothers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, 2011.


**Unknown Hero**

What if Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville along with help from an unexpected source had been able to save Professor Snape after he had his throat cut by Voldemort and he had been bitten by Nagini?

**Disclaimer: **The plot is mine, but the main characters belong to the imagination of J.K. Rowling. I write strictly for fun and do not earn any profit from this.

**A/N: **_This is another one-shot that popped into my mind when I was re-watching Deathly Hallows 2. Luna has always been one of my favorite characters. I love the fact that she knows who she is and doesn't give a damn what anybody else thinks about her._

**Chapter 1**

Harry, Hermione, and Ron huddled outside underneath the windows of the boathouse. They heard Voldemort's stating that the Elder Wand did not answer to him because Snape was its real master. He was the one who had disarmed Dumbledore. They peered up into the windows, watching what was playing out inside. They heard Voldemort say, "You have been a good and faithful servant, Severus, but only I can live forever."

"My Lord …" They heard Professor Snape start to say, but he was cut off when Voldemort made a slashing motion with the wand and they watched as he stumbled and collapsed against a wall.

"Nagini, kill!" Voldemort ordered coldly.

Harry winced as he heard the sound of Voldemort's snake striking Professor Snape at least four times. They waited until they were sure both Voldemort and Nagini had left before they went in.

Severus had his eyes closed and Harry wasn't even sure he was still alive as he knelt down beside him, but then Severus opened his eyes motioning frantically at the tears falling from his left eye. Harry placed his hand over the large gash in his neck and Severus whispered, "Take them."

"Hermione, quick! Get me a container; it doesn't matter what kind …anything."

Hermione dug into her purse and they heard the clinking of glass and then she pulled out a vial and gave it to Harry.

Harry used it to catch the tears and then Severus whispered, "Use Dumbledore's Pensieve." He suddenly motioned frantically as if he just remembered something else and said, "Pockets …"

Harry, Hermione, and Ron dug around in Severus' teaching robes and were amazed to find it had so many pockets. "Here!" Hermione pulled out a few vials that she recognized immediately. "It's anti-venom," she said.

Ron pulled a few vials out of another pocket that he recognized as Dittany having had it used liberally on him when he'd splinched himself last summer. Harry pulled out other vials that he recognized as containing Blood Replenishing Potions.

"The anti-venom first," Hermione decided and spelled it into his stomach as expertly as Madam Pomfrey who had shown her how to do it the previous year. "The Dittany next," she said taking the vials from Ron and giving them to Harry.

He poured the vials of Dittany over the gash in Severus' neck and watched in amazement as the deep slash caused by Voldemort's wand began to repair itself. The bleeding ceased and the skin came together.

"Last the Blood Replenishing Potions," Hermione said. "He'll probably need all of them; he's lost a lot of blood."

With the wound in his neck closed, Severus was able to take that potion by mouth. Harry administered them being very careful to make sure he didn't choke.

Ron transfigured two leafs into blankets and covered Severus with them and Harry transfigured another leaf into a pillow and placed it behind Severus' head.

"Somebody's got to stay with him. I can't because I need to go to Dumbledore's office and you and Ron need to find Neville and kill Nagini."

"What about Luna?" Hermione suggested.

"Good idea," Harry said. He got up, took out his wand, and said "_Expecto Patronum_." When his stag appeared he instructed it to find Luna and lead her safely to the boathouse. He watched it gallop away.

Suddenly they heard Voldemort's cold, high magnified voice saying, "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."*

He paused and then continued, "You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."**

He paused again and they waited for him to resume speaking, assuming he would want to taunt Harry and they were not disappointed.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."**

"Don't listen to him Harry," Ron urged. "He's just a lying blowhard!"

Hermione was silent. It was obvious to Harry that she was attempting to think up another plan, but the problem was that they were out of options.

At that moment Luna carefully crept into the boathouse with Harry's Stag Patronus following, but it quickly melted away. Her eyes immediately took in the Golden Trio, Professor Snape, and the empty potion vials lying around him. "What do you need, Harry?" She asked, wasting no time.

Harry took her aside and whispered, "Voldemort slashed Professor Snape's throat and ordered his snake to attack him and he was bitten at least four times. Fortunately he was carrying vials of Anti-Venom, Dittany, and Blood Replenishing Potions in his pockets. We gave them to him, but I need somebody to stay with him until we can get him to the hospital wing …if you're not scared that Voldemort might decide to return here."

Luna shook her head. "Go! Do whatever you need to do and I'll look after Professor Snape until you return."

Harry nodded and he, Hermione, and Ron crept cautiously out of the boathouse and back towards the castle. "I hope nothing happens to Luna because Neville will kill me," Harry muttered. He owed her a lot since it was she who introduced him to the Grey Lady so he was able to find the Ravenclaw Diadem.

Luna settled down beside Severus and checked the gash on his neck; it appeared stable for the time being, but then she noticed he was shivering. "I hope you also thought to carry potions for shock, Professor," she said as she searched in a pocket of his teaching robes. She pulled out a vial of a bright orange potion. "You did. Very smart of you to think ahead like this," she said as she gave the potion to him and then pulled the blankets up around him and cast a warming charm over them. "Better?"

Severus nodded and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry we can't get you to the hospital wing until after Harry defeats You-Know-Who, but there are just too many followers of his running about; huge spiders, Giants, and Werewolves." Luna said conversationally.

Severus wondered how she could remain so calm and talk so casually about the evil forces besieging Hogwarts.

Luna suddenly had a feeling someone or something else was present besides Professor Snape and herself. She looked up to see a woman with glossy, long, fiery red hair and familiar almond shaped green eyes. "Hello," Luna said.

"Hello Luna, I'm Lily Potter …"

"Harry's mum," Luna replied. "He has your eyes."

"Lily …" Severus whispered.

"Yes Sev, I'm here," Lily replied covering his hand with hers. "I'm going to stay with you until you're better."

Luna could hear her, but didn't know if Professor Snape could so she relayed the message for him. "She's here and she says she'll stay with you until you're better."

"Going …die?"

Lily shook her head. "Not yet. You're still very much needed here."

"She says you're still needed at Hogwarts so you aren't going to die," Luna said.

Severus wanted to chuckle at Lily's absurd statement, but his throat hurt too badly. Needed at Hogwarts when most of his colleagues thought he murdered Dumbledore and worked for Voldemort? They hated his guts as did the students.

He saw Luna lean her head towards his right and listen momentarily then said, "Good idea, Lily." She took out her wand and dimmed the lights then used another spell to make the windows in the boathouse opaque and finally put up a magical barrier on the entrance. She knelt back down beside Severus and explained, "Lily said I should make it difficult for anybody passing by to see in here in case there are Death Eaters still around."

It was quiet outside, the battle having halted and both sides retreated, but it was only for an hour.

"Sorry …what I said …and did," Severus muttered looking over to his right.

"It's alright, Sev. I forgave you a long time ago for both things and I hope you can forgive me for turning you away when you apologized. That was unbelievably cruel of me."

Luna relayed Lily's message to Severus and he smiled slightly. "Never held it …against you."

Nobody spoke for awhile and then Severus muttered, "Resign …soon as possible."

"You can't resign Professor Snape," Luna said. "Hogwarts herself chose you to be headmaster and she wants you to continue."

"No …forced on Hogwarts …not right."

"If Hogwarts didn't want you as headmaster, you would have never been able to get into the headmaster's office. You remember what happened when Professor Umbridge tried to take over? Hogwarts locked her out of the headmaster's office so it's obvious she wants you to continue as headmaster when you're well again," Luna said without of trace of doubt in her voice.

Severus wondered how she could be so sure, but then she had always seemed to know things or be able to sense things other people could not.

"And don't worry when everything comes out, nobody will doubt that Hogwarts chose the right person," Lily added.

Luna repeated to Severus what Lily had just said and added, "I agree."

They waited in silence for quite awhile. There was no sound of the battle restarting, but suddenly Lily's head came up and it looked as if she was listening to someone or something. She squeezed Severus' hand and looked at Luna, "Tell Sev, I have to go. Harry needs me, but I will be back as soon as I can."

Luna relayed Lily's message and Severus who knew that Harry must have viewed his memories in the Pensieve and was now willingly walking into the Forbidden Forest so Voldemort could kill him. He closed his eyes at the thought. "Lily, go," he whispered.

"She's left," Luna said. "Will the Centaurs join us or You-Know-Who?" She wondered aloud. "They don't like either of us so maybe they won't fight at all."

Lily was back in a short time. "You look sad," Luna commented.

Severus knew she had had to watch her son die. He reached out towards where he assumed she was. He just wanted to offer her comfort some way.

Lily ghostly hand clasped Severus' outstretched one, but she remained silent.

It was deathly quiet for about fifteen minutes and then suddenly there was the sound of people marching and cheering loudly. Luna stood and used her wand to clear a small area of the window just above her. "I see a lot of people moving towards Hogwarts …I think I see Hagrid and it looks as if he's carrying something, but I can't see what."

Severus knew it must be Harry for the Dark Lord would want to gloat mightily over Harry's death. He frowned. If only Dumbledore had let him know his suspicion about Harry's scar years ago, he might have been able to invent a potion to remove the horcrux without having to kill the boy first.

Luna sat down again beside Severus again. "I can't see anything else. I guess we'll just have to wait until Harry, Hermione, Ron, or Neville returns."

The sounds of the battle resuming shocked Severus and Luna even though they suspected something of key importance had occurred.

Severus figured the Dark Lord's plan to gloat over Harry's death and declare himself the victor had backfired and drove his opponents into a such rage that they were determined to defeat him no matter how much more blood was spilled.

Lily remained silent, caught up in her memories of Harry as a year-old child and the young man he'd become.

Suddenly it was quiet again. "I wonder if it's over." Luna said. She didn't know how long to wait to find out what had happened.

There was a sudden pounding on the entrance of the boathouse and they heard both Harry and Neville calling. "Luna, Luna! Open the door!"

"It's me and Harry," Neville called.

Again, Luna cleared a small area of the window closest to the entrance to make sure it was really Harry and Neville. She saw them both standing outside and asked, "What was the first thing I ever said to you and when did I say it?"

Listening to her, Severus thought it was wise of her to not to rely solely on a visual confirmation.

Harry replied, "The first thing you ever said to me was '_you're_ Harry Potter'."

Lily looked up, shocked then overwhelmed with joy when she heard Harry's voice.

Neville chuckled a bit, but answered, "You said to me 'and I don't know who you are'."

"And it was on the Hogwarts Express Neville's and my fifth year and your fourth year," Harry added.

Luna removed the barrier and allowed Harry and Neville to come in. The two of them carried a stretcher Neville had transfigured from a tree branch. They put it down and hurried over to Severus. "I'm glad to see he's still alive," Harry said.

"Oh yes because he knows he'll be needed by Hogwarts, the professors and the students," Luna replied. "Harry …" Luna was going to tell Harry that his mum was here too, but caught Lily shaking her head.

Luna?" Harry asked.

"…I just want to say I'm glad you're alive and that you defeated Voldemort."

Harry looked at her peculiarly for a moment and then nodded. "Thanks, Luna."

"Let's get Professor Snape on this stretcher," Neville interrupted them.

With Harry, Neville, and Luna all casting levitation spells on Severus, they were able to move him quickly but gently onto the stretcher. "We're going to cover you with the blanket, Professor Snape so we don't have people spotting you and trying to do more harm to you," Harry explained as he pulled the blanket over his head.

Even though Harry had told Voldemort that Severus had always been Dumbledore's man and never Voldemort's and everybody who was inside the Great Hall during their fight had heard him; there had been people fighting outside that may not know it yet.

Harry took one end of the stretcher and Neville took the other and they left the boathouse with Luna walking beside Professor Snape. Lily was walking on the other side of him with her ghostly hand laying on top of him.

By the time they carried Severus' stretcher through all the rubble and finally reached the hospital wing, Harry and Neville were exhausted.

The hospital wing was filled with moans of pain and screams of agony. Madam Pomfrey rushed from bed to bed with help from Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout and Professor Slughorn. None of them had been in the Great Hall when Harry killed Voldemort.

"Another one?" Madam Pomfrey said wearily looking around the room for an empty bed.

"It's Headmaster Snape," Luna said. "He was badly injured by You-Know-Who."

Harry was shocked when he heard Professor McGonagall say coldly, "Put him out in the hallway and Poppy will get to him when she's done treating the people who deserve treatment."

Poppy looked up shocked, but her expression changed when she looked at Harry, Neville, and Luna. "Put him on the couch in my office and I'll be in directly."

They did as they were told and then came back out.

Poppy …" Minerva started to protest.

"I took a vow as a Medi-Witch and I swore I would never refuse to treat anyone no matter what their failing might be," Poppy snapped. "I came to know Severus well when you and Albus turned your backs and allowed James, Sirius, Remus, Peter to bully him repeatedly and put him in the hospital wing more than once so do not tell me who I can treat, Minerva McGonagall!"

"Voldemort slashed his throat and Nagini bit him at least four times," Harry said. "Fortunately he was carrying anti-venom, dittany, and blood replenishing potions on him. We gave them to him right away."

"He was going into shock too, so I gave him a potion for that," Luna added.

"We shouldn't leave him alone," Harry said.

"I'll stay with him until Madam Pomfrey comes," Luna said and then lowered her voice, "Professor McGonagall looks upset that the headmaster will receive medical treatment."

Harry knew he needed to take her upstairs to the headmaster's office and show her Professor Snape's memories that were still in the Pensieve. "Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Will you please come up to the headmaster's office with me? There's something I need to show you."

Minerva nodded and followed Harry out of the hospital wing. Upstairs in Headmaster Snape's office, Harry motioned towards the Pensieve. "Professor Snape gave me his memories so I knew what I needed to do. He did kill Professor Dumbledore, but it was at his request because he was already dying."

"His blackened hand," she murmured and then looked up at Harry with a hard glint in her eye. "How do you know these memories aren't false ones?"

"Professor, Professor Snape was dying. He didn't have time to produce false memories. It's lucky he remembered the potions he was carrying or he would have died."

Minerva looked at the Pensieve and sighed. "Alright, Mr. Potter. I will look at his memories, but this does not mean I'm going to apologize to him for protecting the students this year."

"No ma'am. I don't believe he would expect you to," Harry replied.

While Professor McGonagall was viewing Severus' memories, Harry sat quietly in one of the squashy armchairs in front of the headmaster's desk. He looked around him. The office had not changed any from the last time he'd been in here when Dumbledore was still alive. In fact, it seemed as if he would be walking back in any second. Professor Snape obviously had not brought any personal items from his former quarters.

He heard a noise and saw that Professor McGonagall had finished viewing Professor Snape's memories. She was sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Oh my! I never realized how horrid those boys were or what a trial it must have been for Severus to attend classes every day, but seeing things from his viewpoint …how I and the other professors failed him as well as Albus."

Harry got up and offered her his arm. "I was the same way. I despised him so I illegally looked into his Pensieve when he was giving me Occlumancy lessons and saw how my dad and Sirius bullied him, called him awful names while Remus stood by and did nothing. I saw him call my mum that nasty name and even after he made a heartfelt apology; she refused to forgive him."

"Is that why he refused to continue your lessons?" Minerva asked.

Harry nodded. "That was the angriest I think I ever saw him."

"Well, things are going to change!" Minerva said straightening her shoulders. "I for one will apologize privately to Severus and then I will do it again publicly the first day he is back as headmaster."

They walked back down to the hospital wing only to find Madam Pomfrey, Neville, and Luna with their wands at ready. Facing them were Kingsley Shacklebolt and two other Aurors. "Now, calm down. We're not here to arrest anyone except Severus Snape," Kingsley said in his calm voice and holding up his hands.

Harry and Minerva pulled their wands out and joined the other three. "You have it wrong, Kingsley. Professor Snape was on our side the whole time. He was a spy for Professor Dumbledore and was never at any point Voldemort's man." Harry figured Kingsley must have been one of a group fighting the Death Eaters outside when he'd revealed the truth about Professor Snape's real allegiance to Voldemort. "If you need proof, Professor McGonagall will take up to the headmaster's office to view the memories Professor Snape left me."

Seeing Kingsley hesitate, Minerva took his arm and said, "Come with me."

After they left, Harry turned to Poppy. "How is Professor Snape?"

"He's unconscious, but it's a good thing. This way his body can heal fully and we can keep any who wish him harm at bay," she answered. "Now, I think you, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Lovegood should get some rest."

"He really is an unknown hero," Harry remarked in admiration.

Luna peeked into Madam Pomfrey's office. She had transfigured her couch into a hospital bed where Professor Snape lay. Lily still remained by his side. Luna tip-toed over and whispered, "It was nice meeting you, Lily and I know having you there gave Professor Snape the will to stay alive."

Lily smiled and replied, "I think it was both of us, Luna."

**THE END**

_**Thank you for reading. Please review.**_

_*****__Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling, Arthur Levine Books, 2007, Page 659._

_**** **__Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling, Arthur Levine Books, 2007, Page 660._


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